Sports briefs

FILE - In this July 1, 2008, file photo, Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge smiles during a news conference where the team's NBA draft picks were introduced at their training facility in Waltham, Mass. Ainge was hospitalized Thursday, April 16, 2009, after suffering what the team described as a minor heart attack. The team issued a brief statement saying that Ainge, 50, was taken to a Boston hospital but provided few other details. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Associated Press

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merlin olsen's family settles lawsuit

Merlin Olsen's family settles lawsuit

LOS ANGELES — The family of Hall of Fame football player and actor Merlin Olsen has settled a lawsuit with several asbestos companies that they say caused the rare form of cancer he contracted late in life.

Attorneys for Olsen's wife and three children filed a notice of settlement last week in Los Angeles without providing further details.

A Logan, Utah native and former Utah State University All-American, Olsen was a member of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line in the 1960s. He died in March 2010 after battling mesothelioma.

Olsen claimed the cancer of the lung lining was caused by exposure to asbestos products at construction sites he worked on as a youth. The settlement covers 10 companies that manufactured or used the products.

The former All-Pro defensive tackle later appeared in the TV series "Little House on the Prairie" and "Father Murphy" as well as in commercials and for many years as an NFL broadcaster.

Sooners' stoops gets new contract

TULSA, Okla. — Two days after winning one of the college football season's early marquee games, Bob Stoops was rewarded Monday with a new contract extension that could keep him as the coach of top-ranked Oklahoma through 2018 and pay him $34.5 million over the next seven years.

The deal calls for Stoops' paydays to grow over the years, topping out at $5.15 million in salary and bonuses over the final three years. He was already one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, making $30 million over the course of a previous seven-year deal approved in 2009.

Stoops' Sooners won 23-13 at fifth-ranked Florida State on Saturday night, moving his career record 100 games over .500 at 131-31.

UCLA hoops player gets suspension

LOS ANGELES — UCLA basketball senior guard Jerime Anderson has been suspended for the Bruins' season-opener on Nov. 11 after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges involving the theft of a laptop.

It was already announced that he would miss the Bruins' exhibition game against Cal State San Bernardino on Nov. 6.